Upset at being denied a ticket to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Barrackpore, Trinamool Congress chief Arjun Singh on Thursday stated he’ll be part of the BJP on Friday.
The event in Barrackpore, forward of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, is much like what occurred earlier than the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, when, after being denied the ticket by the Trinamool Congress, Mr. Singh himself joined the BJP and contested the polls on the saffron social gathering. ticket He returned to Trinamool Congress in Might 2022. The Barrackpore MP, who had defeated Trinamool candidate Dinesh Trivedi in 2019 by a margin of round 13,000 votes, expressed his want to contest the Lok Sabha polls from the identical seat on a BJP ticket. “If the social gathering [BJP] give me a possibility to contest in Barrackpore, I’ll give a befitting reply to those that indulged in post-poll violence in 2021,” stated Singh. His son Pawan Singh is a BJP legislator from Bhatpara who’s below the Barrackpore Lok Sabha constituency.
Barrackpore, together with various jute mills in North 24 Parganas of West Bengal had witnessed communal riots and election violence between 2019 and 2021, which resulted in lots of deaths.
On Thursday, Mr. Arjun Singh stated that “at the very least one Trinamool Congress chief” will be part of the saffron social gathering with him. Sources within the BJP stated Trinamool Congress MP from Tamuk, Dibyendu Adhikari, brother of BJP chief Suvendu Adhikari, may be part of the BJP. The BJP has eliminated Soumendu Adhikari, one other brother of Mr. Suvendu Adhikari from the Kanthi Lok Sabha seat.
In the meantime, focusing on Trinamool candidate from Barrackpore and State Irrigation Minister Partha Bhowmick, Mr. Arjun Singh raised questions on his alleged hyperlinks with Sheikh Shahjahan.
“Why did the TMC high brass ship Partha Bhowmik, as an alternative of the native MLA to Sandeshkhali to defend Shahjahan and his cohorts? It’s as a result of he had shut contacts with Sheikh and wanted to safe proof linking him to Sheikh within the wake of the ED raid,” the Barrackpore MP stated.
Mr. Arjun Singh stated that not solely Sheikh Shahjahan however his associates Shiba Prasad Hazra and Uttam Sardar additionally purchased bighas after bighas of plots and different properties in Naihati. Mr. Bhowmick, who’s an MLA from Naihati, refuted all of the allegations and stated that he was despatched to Sandeshkhali to work together with the protesting locals.
One other Trinamool chief and MP Sunil Mondal can also be upset with the social gathering management for being denied a ticket from the Bardhaman Purba Lok Sabha seat from the place he was elected in 2019. Mr. Mondal was an MLA from the Entrance Left earlier than switching to Trinamool and even shared the stage with BJP leaders in the course of the 2021 Meeting polls, however later determined to stick with Trinamool. The ruling social gathering of the State has fielded psychiatrist Sharmila Saha from the Bardhaman Purba Lok Sabha seat.
